After the Malibu City Council made several revisions to the draft law in October, a proposal to temporarily regulate the number and size of chain stores in the Civic Center is headed back to the Planning Commission for another round of deliberation.
City Attorney Christi Hogin made the determination this week after reviewing the Council’s changes, Planning Director Joyce Parker-Bozylinski said.
Parker-Bozylinski estimates the ordinance will be brought before the Planning Commission at its Jan. 20 meeting, where the Planning Commission will make a recommendation to the Council. Back in July, the Commission recommended against passing a prior draft version of the law.
The latest version of the City Council’s proposed law is starkly different from prior versions, with the council last month choosing to eliminate several provisions, modify a percentage cap on the number of stores that can occupy tenant spaces in the five shopping centers in Malibu’s Civic Center and set a “sunset” date for the ordinance to expire after 12 months.
Gone is a requirement for chain stores to obtain conditional use permits from the city before opening a store. Officials also removed a 3,500-square-foot limit for new chain stores and placed a 45 percent cap on the amount of formula retail uses within a shopping center (grocery, real estate, movie theaters and several other types of businesses are exempted from the ordinance). A formula business is defined as having 10 or more stores in the U.S. Urban Outfitters, as an example, would be considered a formula business.
Frustrated with the prolonged deliberation and revisions made by city officials, the grassroots group Preserve Malibu is pressing forward with a ballot initiative to pass more stringent regulations on chain stores wishing to open in Malibu.